Wuhan to use massive testing against COVID-19 resurgence; Russia cases soar

Nurse holding swab
Nurse holding swab

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Two countries—China and Singapore—are taking massive testing steps to tamp down COVID-19 resurgences, as cases continued to soar in Russia, now the country with the third-highest number of cases.

The global total today climbed to 4,239,872 cases, and 290,390 people have died from COVID-19, according to the Johns Hopkins online dashboard.

China, Singapore use massive testing against resurgence

Wuhan, China's former epicenter, recently reported its first cluster of cases after the end of its lockdown, and the city announced all residents will be tested over a 10-day period, Reuters reported. The city is home to about 11 million people.

The city's lockdown ended on Apr 8, and a Chinese state media outlet said the government official in the district where Wuhan's COVID-19 cluster was detected was fired for failures in epidemic prevention and control. The country is also responding to an outbreak in the city of Shulan in Jilin province.

Elsewhere, Singapore announced a plan to test all migrant workers, as it works to contain a large outbreak at dorms where most foreign-born workers live. The country has about 323,000 migrant workers, who live in cramped dorms, according to Reuters.

In a health ministry statement, it said its strategy in the coming weeks will involve a combination of serological and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests. It has been testing about 3,000 workers each day, and so far, more than 32,000 have been tested, many of whom were asymptomatic when tested.

Today the health ministry reported 884 new cases, all but 7 of them in migrant workers from the dorms.

In South Korea where health officials are grappling with an outbreak linked to nightclubs in Seoul, health officials reported 27 new cases today, 21 of them linked to the nightclub clusters, according to the Korea Centers for Disease Control & Prevention.

Russia cases soar; ventilators spark fires at 2 hospitals

Russia today reported 10,899 new cases, part of an ongoing surge of cases mainly centered in Moscow, lifting it to the third most-affected country. Though the country now has 232,520 cases, its deaths—at 2,116—are far below many other countries.

In other Russian developments, fires linked to faulty ventilators have now been reported at two hospitals, the latest reported today in St Petersburg, according to Reuters. The other fire occurred in Moscow on May 9, killing one patient, and the fire today in St Petersburg killed five people, four of them in a coronavirus intensive care unit.

The country's healthcare watchdog said it would check the quality and safety of the ventilators in the two hospitals. The same ventilator model was involved in both fires, and the St Petersburg hospital and two Russian regions have said they would stop using the model.

Also, the spokesman for President Vladimir Putin has been hospitalized with COVID-19, the Associated Press reported. The spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, has worked with Putin since 2008, and his wife was also diagnosed with an infection. Russian news reports have said Peskov last saw Putin in person more than a month ago. At least three other Russian government officials have been diagnosed with the virus.

Africa cases rise steadily, with much community spread

COVID-19 activity in Africa continues its rapid rise, with cases last week increasing by 56% and deaths increasing by 30%, compared with the 41% and 25% respective rises reported the week before. In its latest weekly update, the World Health Organization African regional office said as of May 10, 43,074 cases and 1,404 deaths had been reported across 46 countries.

The nine countries reporting the most marked increases last week were Sao Tome and Principe, Benin, South Sudan, Chad, Central African Republic, Guinea Bissau, Zambia, Gabon, and Ghana. However, 10 countries make up about 80% of the region's cases, and the top three are South Africa, Algeria, and Nigeria.

So far, 23 countries are experiencing community transmission, 14 have clusters, and 9 have sporadic COVID-19 cases. And 971 healthcare worker infections have been reported in the region, about a third of them in South Africa.

Lebanon starts new lockdown; Philippines extends restrictions

Two countries announced new or extended restrictions, Lebanon due to a recent rise in infections after easing restrictions, and the Philippines, due to ongoing activity in its capital city, Manila. In Lebanon, the government today ordered a 4-day lockdown to begin tomorrow, Reuters reported.

Cases had been dropping in the country, and last week it started lifting restrictions. Its 4-day lockdown exempts supermarkets and pharmacies and will allow the health ministry to do more COVID-19 testing.

In the Philippines, officials extended the lockdown for Manila, where two thirds of the country's cases have been reported, until June, Reuters reported, noting that the city's quarantine, which began in the middle of March, has been one of the world's strictest and longest. However, the government is lifting restrictions in lower-risk parts of the country.

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